The following invention relates to electronic books and, in particular, an apparatus for loading information in an electronic book and protecting the information from unauthorized copying.
An electronic book system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,048 (the “048 patent”) in which a hand-held portable display unit receives and stores information and electronically displays the information in a page-like format generally resembling a page of a conventional book. The electronic book has a size and shape comparable to the size of a paperback book and also includes sufficient memory to store, for example, the text of one or more paper-based books. Also included is a battery so that the information that is stored in the electronic book is not lost.
The user loads information into the electronic book any number of ways such as by inserting a storage medium containing information into the electronic book, by transferring information from a computer to the electronic book or by downloading information directly from the Internet to the electronic book using a modem device contained in the electronic book. Thus, an electronic book allows the user to store information in a convenient, readable and portable format. Recently, two electronic books have been commercially distributed: the first is called the Rocket eBook, manufactured by Nuvomedia, Inc. located at 310 Villa Street Mt. View, Calif. 94041, and the second is called the SoftBook Reader, manufactured by Softbook Press located at 1075 Curtis St., Menlo Park, Calif., 94205.
For electronic books to gain the necessary support of the publishers that supply the content, electronic books must provide a mechanism for protecting the information stored therein from unauthorized copying. For example, if a user purchases an electronic novel for use in the user's electronic book, the user must be prevented from making multiple copies of the electronic novel and distributing the copies to other electronic book users. Such unauthorized copying would result in lost revenues to the publisher of the electronic novel and may be a violation of the author's intellectual property rights.
To prevent unauthorized copying of information downloaded to an electronic book, the '048 discloses employing a coding system that permits either a one-time accessing of the information or limits access to the information from only the particular electronic book that first received the information. To accomplish this, each electronic book has a code programmed therein that distinguishes it from all other electronic books. When a user purchases an electronic text and uses it in a particular electronic book, the electronic book automatically embeds the code of the particular electronic book within that particular copy of the electronic text. In fact, the prior art Ebook uses such an encryption mechanism to secure the electronic text in the electronic book and prevent the viewing of the electronic text in an electronic having a different code. Similarly, the Softbook encrypts the electronic text within the electronic book so that it is only viewable by the electronic book into which the electronic text was initially downloaded. Furthermore, the Open eBook Initiative may develop an open standard for copy protection of electronically distributed literature. However, no such standard presently exists and no specific plan to develop such a standard is in place at this time.
A drawback of the unauthorized copying protection scheme disclosed in the '048 patent is that it also prevents the authorized sharing of information between electronic books. For example, if the sharing of information between electronic books is allowed by the author of that information, the mechanism of the '048 patent will prevent information already used by one electronic book from being used in second electronic book.
Furthermore, the mechanism of the '048 patent prevents the transfer of information from one electronic book to another even if no unauthorized copy is made. Once an electronic book user finishes reading a particular electronic text, the user may wish to pass the text to another electronic book user, much in the way paper-based books are transferred from one reader to the next. Because the mechanism of the '048 patent prevents such authorized transfers, the appeal of using such an electronic book is severely diminished.
Another drawback of the prior art electronic books is that they require the user to navigate a screen-oriented interface to select and download information. For example, with the Rocket eBook, the user employs a web browser to download information from the Internet to the user's personal computer. The user then downloads the information from the personal computer to the eBook. With the Softbook Reader, the user dials directly into a centralized, proprietary server and downloads information from the server into the Reader. In either case, the user is required to select the information the user desires to download from a list of available information. This process of downloading information into an electronic book is cumbersome and further detracts from the appeal of electronic books.